Lets Create A Story

[J Bytheway]

I don't actually play Civ3 (I'm a CTPer) but I just had to say firstly that this is great, and also:

I think you can just about get away with this new continent if you're carful. I don't have a copy of a map editor installed right now, but I'll try to describe my intent:

Extend the Chinese west into their inhospitable icy region, put the Indians to the north of them, connected to the southwest corner of the Russian continent but seperated from the Chinese continent by the sea. Then add a channel north of the Russian continent along which the Romans-in-exile fled to the Babylonian continent which begins to the west of the Russian's land and extends further west and south around the Indians (I fear it would strain the geography too much to put it any further north). Now insert the Spanish land in that black region (it's black on Captain's map) to the southeast of the Anklodians, and I think that's just about enough so we can join the world around at that point, putting the old Aztec land between the Spanish and the Babylonian continent, possibly connected to one or both.

That Babylonian continent is going to have to be pretty big to cope with all those civs you wanted so you'd be hard pressed to squeeze any more places out.

This would add a new thing to think about - perhaps an invasion of the Spanish eastern border by whoever's left in the Babylonian continent after Matthew's finished with them will strain the supplies to the Anklodian invasion.

[Matthew Hayden]

ElDiablo;

so, ur gonna have to ADD in a northern continent to use.

I've already made a rough map, but I made it in paint.

J Bytheway;

Extend the Chinese west into their inhospitable icy region, put the Indians to the north of them, connected to the southwest corner of the Russian continent but seperated from the Chinese continent by the sea.

The closest thing to the Chinese should really be the English or French, the rest is very good, and the Russian Channel is spot on!

I think it's high time I continued my story heh?






OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE EMPIRE-IN-EXILE
PART TWO - The First Great War

It was dusk on the twentieth day of the twentieth year since the founding of Romanae Remembrae and Constantonople, and the First battle against the Babylonians was to be celebrated most excessively for a period of three months.
Dark designs were afoot, however, and on the twentieth day of the celebrations a so-called protection army of Babylonian archers and swordsmen escorting an important envoy entered the lands of the Romans-in-exile, and their leader and the envoy came before the Emperor of the Sky and the Moon, and told of their innumerable armies waiting to devour the great towers and culture of Constantinople and Romanae de Constinae.
The Emperor Constantine immediately had the commander beheaded and said to the envoy; "Go now, undying enemy, but know that however hard you try, you shall never overturn the Empire of The Sky."
"And what are you to tell your faithful subjects if you should fail to hold us off."
"I shall leave my kingdom and destroy Babylon by myself."
At this the envoy left hurriedly, and the secret army left also, to gather strength from all over the Babylonian Empire.
After three months, all was ready, and the great host of Babylonia fell upon the Empire of the Sky and destroyed all who stayed them.
But the Emperor Constantine had not turned a blind eye to the threat, and the great hidden armies of Romanae Remembrae were swollen to fully three times their earlier size, and the watch in all the Towers-of-Guard was doubled, with reserves in hidden places all over the deserts south of the city, ready to attack any invader from the rear.

And so, on the fiftieth day since the closing of the celebrations, a
mighty Babylonian army was sighted by the Guard-Of-The-Tower upon the Towers of The Sun and The Moon.
They came in many hosts, each numbering upwards of ten-thousand and made up, for the most part, of cataphracts and mounted archers.

The leading army consisted almost entirely of infantry with long iron swords, and as they drew within shooting range of the city walls, they held their strong shields over their heads to great effect, for they lost less than one-hundred of their number and quickly cast down the City Gates, and they scaled great ladders to reach the walls.

***

OF CONSTANTINOPLE AND THE EMPIRE-IN-EXILE
PART THREE - The Battle Of Tears

And so at the gates of Constantinople began The Battle Of Tears, which savagely claimed the lives of so many Romans, and took from them their Emperor, as he fought alone upon the entrance to the Palace, killing more than twenty Babylonian swordsmen before succumbing to archers.

The battle raged fiercely, the Babylonians losing four times as many men as the Romans-in-exile. Finally, with almost all their strength drained by the fighting, the Romans fell back into their precious city, and one-hundred elite archers defended the palace for the rest of the day, finally earning a respite from the waves of Babylonian infantry at dusk.
At dawn the following day, the archers were again attacked, and by the end of the assault, had no more arrows. At this, they retreated, taking the newly discovered body of the Emperor Constantine with them.
When Hamurabi heard of this, he was overjoyed to know that victory would surely be his. The fact that, according to the messengers who would soon arrive, the flanking armies and the army following up that which had entered the city, had all ceased to exist in just one day, seemingly swallowed up by the desert, concerned him little.
On the third day of the attack into the city, the Babylonian army was at the gates to the Council Chamber and Forum, when word reached their commander that a massive Roman army was marching north and was already within sight of the city walls.
The attacking Roman army was made up almost entirely of archers trained in the rapid use of a composite bow. They could fire an arrow almost once a second, and this terrifying rate of fire was just too much for the Babylonian swordsmen opposing them, and they broke and fled into the city, and were utterly wiped out.
And so ended the Battle Of Tears, though the war was yet far from over, for the Babylonian city of Sumer was not far distant, and would be a message to all the peoples of Lydia that the Byzantine Empire -as the new Emperor Justinian called Romanae Remembrae- was not to be trifled with.

***


Good so far? I hope Captain can continue his Reynaldo Sanchez story soon, my money is obviously on Reynaldo.

Eldiablo, looking forward to something about Russia and India.

Sovy, hope to hear more from you too regarding the rest of the world.
And everybody, even some Lydian civs if you want, as long as it doesn't involve the Greeks or Byzantines (Romans-in-exile), or the Magyars.


C-ya soon!

[Matthew Hayden]

Hey everyone, where R U?

I'll continue my story, though I have nearly finished my contributions in this style, I got the idea off The Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien, in fact the writing style is a less mature version of what is in that book.

Well. I hope to see you all soon! And how do I find out how popular this thread is,

J Bytheway;
Do you think I should maybe post my map here
anyway, I'm afraid I don't know how


_____________________________________

I cool man!

[Matthew Hayden]

THE NEXT CHAPTER

OF THE FALL OF JUSTINIAN AND HAMURABI THE IMMORTAL

Justinian, son of Constantine, was hastily declared Emperor Of The Sky upon the defeat of the Babylonian armies, and he it was that would lead the Romans-in-exile against the Babylonian city of Sumer.
The expedition set out almost immedietely after Justinian's accession, and the city was left in the charge of his pregnant wife Theodora. As the great army travelled south-east through the desert they came upon the remnants of the Babylonian armies which had managed to escape the battles of the city and lands immediately to the south, and they fell upon them and wiped them out utterly. Two days later Sumer was sighted, and Justinian drew up his battle in preparation for what he new must be a harder fight than any previously.

Hamurabi had prepared also, and his catapults were now ready to destroy any infantry army before it came close enough to do battle. And so it began.
The Babylonian infantry in their line formations held their long spears at the ready as the Byzantine infantry just marched towards them, heads held high,iron helms revealing their faces, vividly portraying the grimness of the battle to come.
As the Byzantine infantry drew nigh to the Babylonian spearmen they produced their bows, aimed, and fired repeatedly, killing scores of Babylonian infantry before the catapults could even begin to fire over.
Hamurabi's faith in these machines, however, was not justified, as they often fell wide of their mark and did not do any great harm to those surrounding those who were hit. They would have been lethal against any wall of stone, but against the wall of spears and swords of Romanae Remembrae they were next to useless.
The Byzantines drove the army of Babylonia within the boundaries of Sumer and systematically wiped out all resistance, until Justinian and his junior brother Vovinian found their quarry, and fought together against the 'king-of-kings' for several minutes before Vovinian was struck such a blow that he fell, and died there and then, and Justinian fought all the harder, but in vain, for Hamurabi was no coward, and in battle he was by far the stongest warrior known to the Byzantines. He outfought, parried, and wounded Justinian twice, but finally his sword found its mark and the Emperor-Of-The-Sky died, having ruled for only eight-days.
Mamurabi was greatly wearied from the fight,and made to flee, but he was seen by an archer named Tritian, who skillfully raised his bow, and with so much care and precision, let his arrow away. It found its mark, and the king, or Overlord, died instantly, and came never back to his home city of Babylon, for his body was cremated honourably by the Byzantine army, as were all the Babylonian dead, and hymns and chants were sung for their safe passage to the after-life.
The war was now over, since Babylon suddenly had no ruler and almost no army available to continue the fight, and Theodora was now ruler of Constantinople, and Ankara, and the captured city of Sumer.
Babylonia was allowed to remain a force upon Lydia's sands, but were they to challenge the Byzantine Empire again, they would be crushed like insects.
And so the Byzantines were safe to expand their borders and their dealings with the pepole of the south, the Magyars and the Greeks, the Tartars and the Slavs, and to bring them over to the Orthodox Church to which the Emperors and Empire of the Sky subscribed.

*********

My next post will be about the continent itself. Bye Bye

_____________________________

I cool man!

[Sovy Kurosei]

Oi, a bit lost, and in a writers block involving a lack of time and laziness X.x

But I like your stories, very well written!

Although, it is a bit awkward with the style spontainiouslly changing over. Oh well, diversity is what makes the story

[Matthew Hayden]

The Final Two Chapters

Like it says, the final two chapters of the Epic Of Byzantine Lydia,

although the story will actually go on and eventually become one small part of an international conflict, hopefully, unless this thread dies.

By the way, who is reading this? I could do with some feedback.

[Matthew Hayden]

OF LYDIA AND ITS REALMS - Written in 12,653 ID : 1362 TC : or Con,F 112

Lydia is the largest continent on Earth, and lies north-north west of Anklodus and Zululand. it covers an area three times that of Ruska Indja, the Indo-Russian continent, and fully six times greater than Romae Africa, the Zulu-Anklodian continent.
For the most part it is a land of deserts, but deep within the continent's heart there lies a range of mountains as high as the sky, and in a small valley surrounded by these mountains can still be found the Wanderers, an entirely Immortal race who have no dealings with mortals save for the Tartars who pass over the mountains to trade furs and silks for precious stones and gold.

To the south west can be found the city-states, or poleis, of Greece, the Byzantine city of Byzantium being in the south-western corner of the continent. In the central northern region lies the Babylonian Empire, an offshoot of the Assyrian Empire, which now possesses little of its former glory.
In the central western region lie the Magyars, fierce warriors who live under the
Byzantine Empire. They live an agricultural life, because that toughens them up for battle -as well as practising swordplay, though they do not have any interest in bows or cavalry.
The Slavs, meanwhile, are immediately to the east of the Magyars, and are allied to no-one for long. They are the ancestors of the Russian Tsardom on Ruska Indja, and are stout-hearted and grim in times of war.
In the far east of the continent lie the Chaldeans, Sassanids, Turks and Arabs. These peopl;es are currently in the process of uniting to create a state based on the principles of the prophet Muhammed, with whom this writer is not familiar, and they call their faith Islam, and they promote equality of the sexes, and science; particularly weapons and medical technologies.
The final word must be reserved for the Tartars, however, a race of bloodthirsty men who forge weapons of steel. They can defeat even well organized armies far larger than their own, as they have demonstrated against the Hoplites of Greece in days long past.
They trade only with the Arabs and the Wanderers, and can be found all over Lydia, like a virus.

***

Justinian was not in fact the son of Constantine, but his nephew, his son (Aurelian) having left with Tantalus -Constantine's elder brother- to seek the aid of the Wanderers before the Babylonian invasion.
As the years passed by, the Byzantine Empire and its allies prospered greatly, until Theodora, whilst out hunting, was bitten by an Asp in an oasis, and died soon after, leaving her
twenty-year old son, Alexius, to become Emperor Of The Sky.
Upon his accession, word finally came from Tantalus and Aurelian, that they would return with an envoy from the Wanderers.
Upon their return, they were greeted delightedly by the whole city of Constantinople.
However, when Tantalus enquired as to the whereabouts of his son, Justinian, and his brother, Constantine, he was informed most solemnly by Alexius that they had both died in battle in the war against the Babylonians.
Three years after, with the threat of a new Overlord coming to power in Babylon, the order was sent for all soldiers of the Empire Of The Sky to be ready for battle within a month, in case of a Babylonian invasion.

[Matthew Hayden]

OF THE GRIEF OF THE EMPEROR

Alexius was the fourth Emperor of the Constinae Dinastae, and his sister Mary, having married a Magyar semi-mortal known as Korak, had given birth to a child and called her Sophia.
Sophia's leanings, whether mortal, semi-mortal, or Immortal, are not covered by this tome, for I myself do not know, and alas we are now to the present. Sophia has been kidnapped by Tartar slave traders who have killed her mother and father, and caused such great grief to the Emperor, that he has handed the throne over to his younger brother Isaac, and left the City Of The Sun to find his dear sister-daughter. Whether he can be successful or not, I do not know, but he has my blessing, and that of the people, for his journey.

[Matthew Hayden]

The Epic is finished! Now I shall try my hand at writing in the style established by you fine people.
_______________________
_______________________
Nebuchadnezzer's Accession;

Nebuchadnezzer was shaking from head to foot. In just three minutes, he would be presented with the Sceptre of Marduk and therefore become Overlord of the People. The idea of finally being able to instigate his Poor Laws and to commence a wider exploration of the world excited him, that was not the problem.
The ritual would be performed before the entire city, and Nebuchadnezzer's eminent popularity amongst the people would mean a great deal of excessive cheering and hooting and more than one-hundred-thousand prying, expectant eyes would be entirely on him.

"My lord?" came a soft, gentle voice. "What troubles you?"
It was Sophia, Nebuchadnezzer's adopted daughter.
"This is the greatest moment of my life," retorted the Lord-to-be. "What cause have I to be troubled?"
Sophia was incredibly sharp witted for a girl of ten.
"You are sweating, I just wondered as to why you should feel intimidated by your own subjects, those whose lives you have chosen to enrich." How she managed to see not only his feelings, but their reasons also, Marduk alone knew.
He replied quite hesitantly, "You are a ray of sunshine aren't you. A word of encouragement would not be amiss on an ocasion such as this"
"What can I say that an advisor hasn't said already?" she asked pessimistically.
A tense minute between the two of them followed, the tension finally lifting when Governer Sargon entered the room through a braided doorway, which led to the high podium where the ceremony would take place.
"The high-priest awaits you My Lord," he proclaimed importantly.
"Good luck!" called Sophia as Nebuchadnezzer passed through the braided portal and ascended to the podium at a slow, measured stride.
Upon reaching the top Nebu' was greeted by the high priest, who then drew forth the sceptre from a burning log fire, and offered it to Nebu'.
"Do not accept this lightly, for there is but one thing in all the universe that decides the favour of the sceptre."
"Yes?" asked Nebu' apprehensively
"Fate. If you can wield this sceptre fresh from the elemental flame, then you are indeed a worthy successor to Hamurabi The Immortal, last of the Line of Sumeris."
The whole crowd held their breath as Nebu' reached slowly with his left arm,
and snatched the sceptre from the high-priest's hands. It did not seem hot at all.
"Here begins the Line Of Nebuchadnezzer!" cried the high-priest, and the entire city erupted with screams and joyous song-singing.
It was supposed to be the Overlord's custom to address the crowd upon his accession, but Nebu's nerve was wearing very thin indeed now.



I AM SO INFINITELY IT'S FRIGHTENING MAN!

[Captain]

Hey, nice to see someone's picked up on the story. I thought this thread had died for a while there. Matthew, that's a huge continent you've invented there. How's the new map coming? How are we for a timeline too?

The first part of the duel is now written! If you want to read it, it's up above in an edited post. Fifth post from the top of this page.
I was a bit hesitant since it feels kindof melodramatic, any feedback would be great. If you don't want to clutter this thread, just PM me.

Well, I do plan on finishing the duel, as well as the Naldo storyline, and maybe eventually the Chandra thing but a combination of things has kept me out of this for a while.

In the meantime, kudos to y'all and carry on...

Captain

[Matthew Hayden]

Captain (of the 'Let's Create A Story' Thread)

Great post!

By the way, thanks for the feedback, I had thought this thread had died also,

Anyone can post a story here as long as it fits with what has gone before, indeed, maby we need to introdue some novelty value by starting a new thread and changing names to interest more people. Otherwise, I don't see how it's goanna keep going.

Oh well, C-yall Soon I Hope!

PS; I have the map finished, in a paint sort of way, I'll post it soon, although it only shows Lydia and ain't all that convincing.
____________________
Dig the flowers man!

[Captain]

hello again,
sadly, i've been away from the story boards for quite some time,

i am wondering if I should resurrect this old story, or start a new one? i'd like to move on, but i feel a bit of obligation to provide closure to the threads i've left open, but if no one really cares, then I'll just leave it alone.

btw, read a few stories, including some of the NES series, and I have to say that cbraund is pretty good at coming up with such great ideas. also, re: Skilords NES, Sam Johnson is an awesome writer!!! He should get published! I would buy his books. I also read some of Metaliturtle's stuff, I was LMAO! and Bella Hella's Amy's Story is nice too, a different take, more personal, than a lot of the ultra-war threads where within 3 sentences half the world has been taken over. I like the approach and the writing's pretty good too. I didn't get a chance to read much else though it inspired me to look up this old thread and see if anyone had added anything.

[Captain]

I forgot to mention,
Sovy, it's nice to see you're still writing in this forum, I'm glad you kept writing even though this thread died.